Published 12:31 IST, June 25th 2019
EAM S Jaishankar files nomination for Rajya Sabha seat from Gandhinagar in presence of Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani
A day after formally joining the BJP, EAM S Jaishankar filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha from Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Tuesday June 25.
A day after formally joining the BJP, EAM S Jaishankar filed his nomination for Rajya Sabha from Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Tuesday June 25.
Coming as a surprise during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jaishankar was made the External affairs minister. However, he was required to be elected to either of the two houses within 6 months of being the minister. He has filed his nomination from the Gandhinagar Rajya Sabha.
The two Rajya Sabha seats are that of BJP chief Amit Shah, who won from the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, and Smriti Irani, who defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP chief Amit Shah and Irani were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in August 2017 for a tenure of six years.
He has played an important role in framing India's strategic affairs. During Modi's first term, the Prime Minister gave him an extension after his two-year term ended in December 2017. After his retirement, he had taken a job in the private sector - with the Tata group as its president for global corporate affairs. He was also an Indian ambassador to Washington when Prime Minister Modi visited the US for the first time. In March, the 64-year-old had received the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind.
As the US ambassador, he had played a key role in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, which was finally signed in 2008 under former PM Manmohan Singh.
Further, S Jaishankar was appointed as foreign secretary in January 2015, after PM Modi dismissed the foreign secretary Sujatha Singh. Jaishankar was the country's longest-serving foreign secretary in four decades and helped craft much of PM Modi's foreign policy.
A former ambassador to China, Jaishankar had played a key role in resolving the crisis following the incursion in Ladakh's Depsang and the 73 days long Doklam stand-off, handling the tough negotiations with Beijing. He is credited to end the Chinese policy of issuing stapled visas to Indians from Jammu and Kashmir in 2010.
At the beginning of his career, he was an Indian Foreign Service officer with a posting in Moscow from 1979 to 1981.From 1981-1985, he served under-secretary in the Americas and Policy Planning Divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs. Jaishankar served as First Secretary and Political Advisor to the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. He was also appointed Ambassador of India to Czech Republic and served in Prague till 2004.
Updated 13:00 IST, June 25th 2019